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Boucher liked what he saw from Killorn's debut

by
Lonnie Herman
/ NHL.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- There wasn't much for the Tampa Bay Lightning to cheer about Sunday as they concluded a winless 0-3 road trip with a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the New York Rangers for their fourth consecutive loss, but coach Guy Boucher did find one bright spot.

Alexander Killorn, making his NHL debut after being called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League, picked up an assist and skated aggressively in 13:17 minutes of ice time.

"The AHL is a development league; the NHL is a performance league," Boucher said. "You're here to win. When a young guy enters your lineup it is not time for experiments; it's time to see if he can hack it. Can he contribute? Is he reliable? And if he is, you can show him more ice time.

"I saw Killorn in the first two shifts, I start him on the third line and then I realized that he had assets and he's proving it right now and I can use him with top guys, so he deserves it. It's not a question of age or experience, it's a matter of if they are ready. If a guy is ready, let's go."

A product of Harvard University, the 23-year-old is a native of Quebec, as is Boucher.

"I followed his career from afar," he said, "so it was funny that when I got the job here, he's here now. He's a good person, good family, and hopefully his career takes off and another Montrealer doing well."